James Gurney

This weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

CG Art

Contact

or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

Permissions

All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

Sunday, February 25, 2018

The current issue of Illustrationmagazine recounts the story of how the iconic image of the Quaker Oats man was created. Illustrator Robert Bonfils recalls being hired in 1965 to paint an updated version of an earlier one by Haddon Sundblom (1899-1976):

"While I was freelancing in Chicago, one of my accounts asked me to make corrections to the work of several famous illustrations before they went back in production. In one particular instance, an agency wanted me to duplicate the Quaker Oats Man. The original art was deteriorating and they wanted a new image to use for future products....I worked only in gouache, casein, and acrylics on illustration board, so I did the whole painting in that medium. I did not touch up on the original by Haddon Sundblom. I am pleasantly surprised and honored to be his copyist."

The logo had other incarnations, both earlier and later than the one by Sundblom / Bonfils.

According to Neatorama:"The original 1877 Quaker Man was a full-length picture of a Quaker holding a scroll with the word 'pure' on it (just in case the integrity/honesty/purity point didn't get across). In 1946, graphic designer Jim Nash created a black and white head portrait of the smiling Quaker Man and in 1957, Haddon Sundblom made the full-color portrait. The last update to the logo was in 1972, when Saul Bass created the stylized graphic that still appears on Quaker Oats product packages today."

5 comments:

Very interesting, James! Package illustrating reminds me of that wonderful painting under "Managing Details" in your book Imaginative Realism. What really amazes me is the photorealistic shine on the red truck's hood (lower right of painting). I guess you "find it in the paint!"

Your post also reminds me of a popular design for a crystal AM radio, which includes 35 turns of wire around a Quaker Oats box. For some reason the impetuous side of me had to cut out the oval around the man with a hobby knife and re-glue it in its place, upside down!

I think the Nash black and white is the best, but Sundblom captured it well in color. I think the Bonfils by comparison lacks the character of the others. I'm surprised to find that Saul Bass created a '70s stylized version. I don't remember that one at all.

There's a Quaker meeting hall in my town, you don't see may of 'em smiling like that. We have Plymouth Brethren here too, now they definitely don't do much smiling at all, they do like their porridge though.

DeadSpiderEye, Quaker Oats was the first cereal to be trademarked, and over its long history the Quakers or Society of Friends has had some issues with the use of the Quaker character in advertising campaigns, especially when it has used violence.

ScottT I wish I was able to find a better repro of the original Sundblom painting and the Nash painting. That Saul Bass stylized version reminds me of the one of Colonel Sanders, which ended up being used for KFC.

Bob, You reminded me of all the uses we had for a Quaker Oats box. Nice to have something like that made of cardboard.